Location: IRC server linkline.ca.us.webchat.org, channel #asfar
Time: 9:30 pm eastern time

Board members present: Joshua Freeman, Matthew Havens, Larissa Price, David Schneider-Joseph, Oliver Traldi, Susan Wishnetsky
Members present: Sam A, David C, Chris E, Daniel M, Brett W
Visitors present: none

The meeting was called to order at 9:39 pm eastern time.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the March 7th meeting were approved without objection.

Reports of Officers

The President, Justin Mallone, gave no report.

The Vice President, Larissa Price, gave no report.

The Secretary, David Schneider-Joseph, reported that ASFAR has 544 active members and is receiving an average of one per day.

The Treasurer, Susan Wishnetsky, reported that she has received the signed copies of the form permitting ASFAR to conduct business in Illinois. She has not had a chance to handle tax-related issues or the bank account.

Reports of Committees

The zine committee reported that 500 copies of the 12 page print edition of the new issue were picked up.

The advertising committee reported that a second book was sold on the bookstore.

Old Business

David Schneider-Joseph reported that Chris Hansen, the Senior National Staff Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, said that it was too late for ASFAR or any of its members to be represented as co-plaintiffs in its lawsuit challenging the Child Internet Protection Act. There is still plenty of time for ASFAR to file a friend-of-the-court brief, and the ACLU may be able to help ASFAR find a lawyer that will write and file it for free. David moved that ASFAR request that the ACLU find it an attorney to file such a brief. The motion was seconded, and carried 5-0.

New Business

Ways were discussed to make it more convenient for local chapters to initiate communication with ASFAR members in the area that are not members of the chapter. Many suggestions were raised, such as automatically giving new member information to local chapters, and various ways for new members to indicate on the join form how they want that information divulged to local chapters. David Schneider-Joseph moved that a field be added to the join form for phone numbers, and a checkbox be added next to it, unchecked by default, that says "You may give my phone number to local chapters." Susan Wishnetsky moved to amend the motion to add only the phone field, but not the checkbox. The motion to amend was seconded, and carried 3-0, with David abstaining. The entire motion carried 3-0, with Oliver Traldi abstaining.

The issue of representation of youth rights issues on political comparison web sites was discussed. Several of the most important issues to be represented were agreed upon, including the voting age, compulsory education, zero tolerance policies in schools, the drinking age, curfews, and custody issues. Oliver Traldi and Matthew Havens agreed to contact VoteSmart, Issues 2000, and politics1.com to request that those issues be represented.

Other Business

Oliver Traldi moved that the bylaws of the Pennsylvania Youth Rights Network be approved. The motion was seconded, and carried 4-0.

The next board meeting was scheduled for April 4, 2001, at 9:00 pm eastern time.

The meeting adjourned at 11:18 pm eastern time.

Respectfully submitted,

David Schneider-Joseph
Secretary, ASFAR